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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Thursday that its executive team is complete with the hiring of Roger Theodoredis as chief legal officer and Tabassum Zalotrawala as chief development officer. Theodoredis joins from Danone S.A. and Zalotrawala was most recently at Panda Restaurant Group. Chipotle has made a series of executive hires in 2018, including Brian Niccol, Chipotle's chief executive, in February. The company has also completed price hikes system-wide, according to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analysts, who view the price hikes as a positive. Prices differ according to market. For example, a chicken burrito, bowl or salad in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and San Antonio went from $6.85 to $6.95, up 1.5%, while in Sacramento, San Diego and Riverside, the price went from $7.00 to $7.25, up 3.6%. " Chipotle's new pricing strategy appears to be taking regular small price increases versus its prior practice of taking infrequent (about every three years) large increases, which were more disruptive to traffic," analysts wrote. SunTrust rates Chipotle shares buy with a $500 price target. Chipotle shares have soared 63.6% in 2018 while the S&P 500 index has slipped nearly 1% for the period.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. fell 1% in the extended session Thursday after the restaurant chain reported per-share adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations but same-store sales growth came in below forecast. Chipotle said it earned $38.2 million, or $1.36 a share, in the quarter, compared with $19.6 million, or 69 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $60.7 million, or $2.16 a share, compared with $37.8 million, or $1.33 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 8.6% to $1.22 billion, compared with $1.12 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $2.01 a share on sales of $1.24 billion for the quarter. Comparable-restaurant sales rose 4.4%. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected an increase of 5%. "We made important progress during the quarter with the introduction of our 'For Real' marketing strategy and I'm encouraged by the progress we are making in building a pipeline of customer focused innovation, driving digital sales, elevating our restaurant operations and effectively executing our reorganization," Chief Executive Brian Niccol said in a statement. Food, beverage and packaging costs made a smaller portion of the company's revenue, thanks to menu price increases and "relief in avocado prices," offset in part by higher prices for beef, paper and packaging items, the company said. Shares of Chipotle ended the regular trading session up 2.6%.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital Markets on same-store sales growth potential. RBC's price target was lifted to $510 from $450. RBC surveys show menu, digital and delivery opportunities that analysts led by David Palmer think the company can execute on in 2019. "[I]t is encouraging to hear that 73% of customers that have not eaten at Chipotle in the past six months would consider returning to Chipotle if a new item was added to the menu," the note said. Among the items RBC suggests Chipotle should add are nachos, which are currently being tested in Colorado and Minneapolis; bacon, which is being tested in Orange County; quesadillas; and a revamped queso. Still, analysts expect earnings, scheduled to be announced on Oct. 25, to be "lackluster" and sales to be volatile from quarter to quarter. Chipotle shares are up 1.7% in Monday premarket trading and up 48.3% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index has gained 3.5% for 2018 so far.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. rose 1.6% in afternoon trade Thursday, bucking the weakness in the broader market, after KeyBanc Capital analyst Eric Gonzalez started coverage of the Mexican food fast-casual restaurant chain with a bullish overweight rating on the belief the company is headed in a better strategic direction under the leadership of Brian Niccol, who became chief executive effective March 5. Gonzalez set a stock price target of $500, which is 13% above current levels. "In our view, sweeping changes to personnel and internal processes are likely to produce positive results that consensus estimates do not fully contemplate," Gonzalez wrote in a note to clients. He said new management is pushing to use more modern marketing techniques, to become more culturally relevant, to take a more rigorous approach to testing and scaling of new ideas and to raise awareness of its off-premise and digital capabilities. The stock's gain comes despite a 1.2% tumbled in the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 12-point slump.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. engages in the development and operation of fast-casual, fresh Mexican food restaurants throughout the U.S. It offers focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads, prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.
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